Jaguar Land Rover Begins 24 Hour Shift at Halewood to Keep Pace With Global Demand

LIVERPOOL, England, August 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

For the first time in Halewood's 50 year history, Jaguar Land Rover's 4,500-strong Halewood workforce will now work around the clock to meet strong global demand for the Range Rover Evoque.

Since its launch in July 2011, the Range Rover Evoque has achieved worldwide sales success, with nearly 88,000 vehicles sold in more than 170 markets.

In March this year, Jaguar Land Rover announced that Halewood would move to 24 hour production, and launched a recruitment campaign to hire 1000 new production operators, supervisors and engineers. These new recruits will manufacture both the Range Rover Evoque and updated Land Rover Freelander 2 models across three shifts, including a new night shift, which began at 21.30 this evening.

Halewood Operations Director, Richard Else, said: "Our new recruits have worked hard during their assessments and extensive induction training. Many have also worked a number of trial night shifts during July, to ensure we get off to a great start today. I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues as they come on-board to help us meet customer demand for the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Freelander.

"Moving production to three shifts and working 24 hours a day will allow us to significantly reduce the time a customer has to wait for their new Range Rover Evoque."

Des Thurlby, HR Director at JLR said: "With 4,500 employees, JLR Halewood has trebled its workforce in just three years - and the size of the workforce is now the highest it has been for 20 years. As well as creating new jobs, our on-going global success means we continue to have a positive economic impact in the North West and throughout the UK supply chain."

All of JLR's new Production Operators will also now receive up to a year of training which will lead to an Intermediate (NVQ Level 2) Apprenticeship.

"JLR is committed to investing in the skills and training of its workforce and many of the 1500 people recruited to launch the Range Rover Evoque in 2011 have already graduated with an Intermediate Apprenticeship," added Des Thurlby. "We received more than 30,000 applications for these 1000 new roles and we are very fortunate that we were able to select such high calibre people for our new jobs."

The Range Rover Evoque has gained critical acclaim achieving more than 120 global awards. Crowned Top Gear Magazine Car of the Year, World Design Car of the Year and North American Truck of the Year amongst others, the Range Rover Evoque continues to receive plaudits for its concept car looks, dynamic driving performance, class leading off-road skills and excellent cost of ownership.

Notes to editors:

• Jaguar Land Rover's advanced manufacturing facility at Halewood manufactures the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Freelander 2 models, and exports more than 75 per cent of its production to more than 170 markets worldwide.
• The Range Rover Evoque is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK. It supports the UK supply chain with £3bn of supplier contracts and generates an estimated £2 billion in annual export value for the UK.
• As the UK's largest automotive employer, JLR has a world class team of nearly 24,000 people.
• In the 2011/12 fiscal year, JLR achieved record profits of £1.5 billion, an increase of £392m when compared to the previous year.
• JLR is the largest investor in automotive R&D and engineering in the UK.
• JLR has two state of the art engineering and design facilities and three advanced manufacturing plants in the UK.
• JLR is the UK's largest automotive manufacturing business built around two iconic British car brands with a rich heritage and powerful consumer appeal and loyalty. Additionally, JLR is at the centre of the UK automotive industry's drive to deliver technical innovation in all areas of vehicle development.